Federal policies planned to boost exports

BATON ROUGE — In his State of the Union address earlier this week, President Barack Obama stressed the importance of exports and vowed to double the volume of all foreign-bound U.S. goods by 2015.

Jeremy Alford Capitol Correspondent

BATON ROUGE — In his State of the Union address earlier this week, President Barack Obama stressed the importance of exports and vowed to double the volume of all foreign-bound U.S. goods by 2015.

In Louisiana, and down the bayou, that could mean big business.

Houma-Thibodaux is home to the sixth-largest export market in the state, buoyed largely by machinery outfits and shipbuilders.

Each year, an average of about $227 million worth of products are shipped from Terrebonne and Lafourche to overseas locations, according to the International Trade Administration.

Most of these local shipments — about $189 million worth — end up going to the 34 different countries in the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which is practically the entire Western Hemisphere, from Argentina and Brazil to Uruguay and Venezuela, but not Cuba.

Other far-flung countries underwrite the area’s economy as well.

For example, Asia receives about $32 million in exports from Houma-Thibodaux annually, while Africa welcomes somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 million each year.

If history is any indicator, there’s always the chance that these numbers can swell. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Louisiana’s exports in 2008 totaled nearly $42 billion.

It’s an impressive number by itself, economic-development analysts contend, but it shines even brighter when compared to the 2007 tally of $30 billion.

It was a 38 percent spike that helped bolster the state’s economy the entire year.

But that was back when a falling dollar was on Louisiana’s side.

Preliminary export data for 2009 suggests that the state may have seen a dip that could numerically mirror, at least in the same statistical neighborhood, the increase that was enjoyed in 2008.

Simply put, the export market for Louisiana is changing.

While Mexico, Japan and China received most of Louisiana’s exports in 2008, China increased imports from the state by a whopping 49 percent during the first two quarters of 2009.

So, how does Obama plan to turn the tide and help businesses adapt?

Here are his own words from Wednesday evening: “We’re launching a national-export initiative that will help farmers and small businesses increase their exports and reform export controls consistent with national security.”

Doubling the amount of exports, Obama said, would also create a related two million new jobs.

In its coverage of the speech, The New York Times reported that the plan was rolled out with “few details,” but that could mean Obama is ready to urge Congress to pass pending free-trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea.

Short of that, it’s a political promise that’s still unfolding.

There is, however, some related action already happening in the Senate and the senior member of

Louisiana’s delegation is firmly attached.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana, introduced a bill called the Small Business Export Enhancement and International Trade Act.

Since most exports are driven by small businesses, Landrieu said she is in a unique position as chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

The proposed legislation, which Landrieu’s committee has already adopted, would improve access to loans and counseling programs for small exporters.

She said making a few changes to already existing programs could help Obama reach his goal of two million new jobs.

“These are simple, inexpensive ways we can make a big impact,” Landrieu said.

The framework for the plan was created last summer in New Orleans during a field hearing with Landrieu’s committee and officials from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Landrieu said that field hearing, in addition to new findings from the U.S. International Trade Commission, convinced her that small exporters are getting hit way too hard by unfair costs and regulations and that the federal programs meant to help them today are not working adequately.

“Improving these programs is especially important now, as small businesses find their domestic marketplace increasingly tapped out because of the recession,” Landrieu said.

Along with Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican from Maine, Landrieu has also requested that the Government Accountability Office investigate the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee to further ensure that federal exporting resources are supporting the needs of small businesses.

Capitol Correspondent Jeremy Alford can be reached at jeremy@jeremyalford.com.

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